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“Loyalty like Lassie”

Arsenal need loyalty, this is a fact, with loyalty comes heart and with heart comes BMT, something Arsenal have been lacking. Players that will just leave when a bigger pay check or ‘bigger club’ come around, are players that in my opinion should not make up the bulk of the side.

As much as it pains me to say this, Manchester United is a team that has loyalty; their team is made up of a majority of players that are in love with their club. Giggs must be the most loyal Manchester United player I have ever lived to see and this is what runs through the veins of the club, and there are plenty of players with loyalty like him still there.

Arsenal need to find a player like Tony Adams he was a man that when a person thinks of him they can say ‘Tony Adams, now that was loyalty’. Addicted a perfect word to describe him and all he did, especially the passion with which he lead the Gunners in the early Wenger era.

Another thing that I believe is that Arsenal need to buy more British players, they seem to show more loyalty, I think that is because relatively speaking they are local players, so they they have less trouble understanding what the club means to diehard fans, that’s not to say that the overseas players don't, just might take them longer. Saying this players like Van Persie and Nasri have often stated their love for Arsenal and their desire to win things with Arsenal. Bergkamp and Pires to name a few showed loyalties through and through, but for me generally it is a local player. If you think about it, it stands to reason Fabregas loves Arsenal, but wants to go home to Spain and his boyhood club, sad, but makes sense.

Now a player such as Wilshere is a man who I see already having that loyalty and he is at home already, see what I am getting at. Walcott and Ramsey are also great for Arsenal and building that Loyalty. I believe to build this team we need leadership, loyalty and experience, this must be looked at when making a signing. Players like Gary Cahill and Scott Parker (loyalty will develop), instead of only buying, young talented players from abroad.

Fans what to be able to see the passion in their players, the passion for victory and the passion for the club, with loyalty comes heart, and with heart comes BMT.

1 comment:

Well I would agree and say that Loyalty is definitely needed at Arsenal. Maybe that would drop the "feeder" or "sellers" club tag that arsenal seem to get. I would also go a step further and say the players would show more loyalty if the club won trophies. When you have a great players playing good football, but never quite reaching the pinnacle of their careers its understandable that they might want to leave to achieve more. Thierry Henry is a perfect example. he loved and still does love Arsenal, but as one of the worlds best players of that time (should of won World Player of the year in 2006 when Cannevaro won it) he needed a new challenge. His loyalty to the club can only go so far if he is not getting what he needs in the prime of his career. True loyalty is seen in player like Ryan Giggs, Paul scholes,Totti, Del Pierro, Gerrard, Carrager John O'Shea, Wes Brown, Gary Neville...There is common trait about all these players and that is that they came through their club's youth system, and won trophies with the club that they were taught their trade. Totti possibly being the exception - he is just loyal no matter what.

As for BMT, well unfortunately you get that through experience not loyalty. Only a select few have BMT at a young age, but often when young players do have it, they are also playing with experienced players around them to help guide them in tough scenarios. There is a reason why Fergi wants to keep Scholes and Giggs part of the Man Utd squad at 36 and 37 respectively, and that is because of the influence they have on their team mates over and above their experience and class.

Arsene Wenger underestimates the importance of experience, but the team that won trophies for him had an average age of 28/29? (I am guessing?) Compared to the team now of an Average of 23? Have you also noticed that when every a game needs to be closed off and won Fergi puts Giggs and Scholes on. He did that recently against arsenal in the FA cup.

So to conclude, you are right, your arsenal needs British players, and loyalty from your squad. But your arsenal team needs to win something to keep your best players so that they are loyal. You will only get that from them if Wenger adds experience to the mix of talented youngsters. There was a huge thing made about Fergi using his youth system for Giggs, Scholes, Nevile (both) and Butt. but what people didnt realize was that they has Steve Bruce, Gary Pallastir, Mark Hughs, Peter Shmichael around them to help them develop into the treble winning team (to name a couple) So maybe the heading to your blog should have been "At least 8-10 years experience needed"